Update;
I got the fuel tank put back together and installed in the truck. Getting back in was a lot harder than I anticipated. I thought I had a great plan of using the creeper to move the tank and then using wood blocks at each end of the tank to build it up to the correct height. The concept generally worked but was a lot more of a pain than I thought it was going to be. If I ever have to drop the tank again, I'll need to come up with a better method.
On a happy note, I got the fuel guage working. I pulled the old sender out and tested it with the multimeter. It jumped around a bit but would eventually settle on a correct number. The gasket between the sender and the tank was all cobbed together and had a bunch of RTV-like sealant on it. I cleaned all that off and pirated a good gasket from another sender that I had. The float was pretty ratty and I think it had a leak. I also pirated the float off my other sender and used that. With a good clean up around the lip of the tank I screwed the sender in place and mounted the tank. When I turn on the key it jumps right to a half tank which is the correct reading. Finally!!!!
With all the messing around with the fuel system, I also discovered I had a leaky fuel pump. No wonder there was always a faint fuel smell in the cab. I picked up a replacement at NAPA and installed it when I finished with the tank. The truck started right up and ran like a champ. There must have been enough fuel in the carb bowl to keep it running while the new pump drew fuel into the lines.
I've been doing a bunch of research about hooking the kickdown to the HEI distributor. Everything I've been able to find says not to bother trying to hook up the kickdown to an HEI. I have the kickdown switch mounted on the dash. When I want to kick down the trans I'll push the button and just let off the gas for a second. I think that will do the trick. If anyone has any experience with this, please post the details.
If I can get the wiring buttoned up, I'll be taking it for a spin tomorrow afternoon.
